Using the Google API Client Library for Java on Android

If you are developing for Android and the Google API you want to use is included
in the Google Play Services library,
use that library for the best performance and experience. If the Google API you
want to use with Android is not part of the Google Play Services library, you
can use the Google API Client Library for Java, which supports Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
(or higher), and which is described here.

Partial response and update

Google APIs support a partial-response protocol that allows you to specify which
fields are returned to you in the HTTP response. This can significantly reduce
the size of the response, thereby reducing network usage, parsing response time,
and memory usage. It works with both JSON and XML.

The following snippet of code drawn from the
Google+ Sample
demonstrates how to use the partial-response protocol: